What is the cost of College Tuition? A new site Highlights the Most & Least Expensive Colleges in the Nation

Today, the New York Times highlighted the rising cost of a college education. New data released by the Department of Education (required by the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008) highlights the cost of education by institution. The website, the Act Information on College Costs highlights tuition, fees, average cost of living, the net cost (tuition and fees less grants and scholarships), and even demonstrates those institutions with the highest and fastest rates of increase. According to the study, the average tuition of a non-profit institution was around $21,324.

The New York Times also highlighted additional data released that is shocking for those of us who have ever worked in higher education and have been aware of teh rising cost of college expenses. The data namely states that two-year or community colleges (long the most affordable form of education for generations) is now being priced out of the range of many students – seeing a 71% increase from 1999-2009 (while family income has fallen more than 4% over the same time).

Soon the government will also require higher education institutions to expand consumer information to include details on its graduates’ employment rates, average debt load, and rates of graduation. To read more about this, check out the article in the New York Times.

10 thoughts on “What is the cost of College Tuition? A new site Highlights the Most & Least Expensive Colleges in the Nation”

I’m glad you posted this article. I suppose the take away for me was the ever increasing class divide and who will have access to higher education. After reading the NYT article, I fear we will see even fewer lower income families attending university. I wish I had a solution to offer here but at present I do not. Well, I do but I would be called a socialist–which apparently is a bad word right now, and often misused by certain presidential candidates that qualify as functioning illiterate.

What really shocked me was the dramatic rise in community colleges. They have always been a way for people to forego some of the hefty tuition costs or just to take a few classes here or there for ‘fun’ or needed credits.
My bigger concern than pricing out the middle class is that students will be talked in to taking out huge loans for an education (without real information about the pay-off) and saddled with debt for the all of their lives. Student Loan debt cannot be discharged (except in extreme situations) and students are coming out with no job prospects and huge loan fees. However, they’re constantly being told that it’s ‘worth it’ and that they will ultimately earn more. I’m not so sure that’s true anymore….

The article definitely illustrates the issue of an education becoming out of reach for the middle class. I know many people with no parental support who still made it with scholarships and loans (some all the way to the ivy league). If you want to ensure that you’re able to repay the student loan it’s extra important to pick a major with a promising job market and high salary (engineering for example).

I know that here in Oregon, Universities used to receive $3. from the state for each $1. from a student. Currently the the state only pay .44 for every dollar from the student. Next year it is predicted that the state will only pay .35 for every dollar the student pays. Education is becoming so elitist that soon only the top 1% of American will be afforded a college education.